The Via dei Monti Lariani

Above the western shore of the lake, halfway up the slopes, stood the “mûnt”: the spring and autumn pastures where families from the villages on the water brought their cattle before climbing to the summer “alp”.

The Via dei Monti Lariani links them one after another, staying mostly around a thousand metres: it starts from Cernobbio and reaches Sorico, at the far end of the lake, after 125 kilometres of paths and mule tracks. Many of those hamlets are still lived in during the summer, others have become holiday houses, others are in ruins. The route is a project of CAI Como, well waymarked and divided into four sections, which can also be walked in stages thanks to the mountain huts along the way.

1. 01The four sections: Cernobbio to the Val d'Intelvi, 28 kilometres; the Val d'Intelvi to the Val Menaggio, 26; the Val Menaggio to the Val Albano, 24; the Val Albano to Sorico, 46.
2. 02The waymarks are CAI's, with the section number: you find them on signs, posts and walls all along the route.
3. 03On the first stretch there are the Rifugio Bugone above Moltrasio, the Rifugio Murelli above Carate Urio and the Rifugio Prabello above Cerano d'Intelvi; further on, the Rifugio Venini on the Galbiga and the Rifugio Menaggio. Ask each hut about its opening and bookings.
4. 04You climb up and come down from the lakeside villages by mule tracks: bus and boat take you back to where you started.

WhereCernobbio · Menaggio · Sorico